Accretion onto the Embedded Protostar L1527 IRS: Insights from JWST NIRSpec and MIRI Observations

TL;DR

This study uses JWST NIRSpec and MIRI observations to analyze accretion processes in the Class 0 protostar L1527 IRS, revealing magnetospheric accretion signatures and estimating accretion rates despite high extinction.

Contribution

First JWST NIRSpec and MIRI data provide detailed insights into accretion mechanisms in a Class 0 protostar, highlighting magnetospheric accretion signatures and asymmetries.

Findings

Accretion luminosity estimated at 0.4 L_sun.

Accretion rate around 1e-7 M_sun/yr.

Evidence of magnetospheric accretion and asymmetry.

Abstract

Accretion is the primary driver of protostellar evolution, regulating mass assembly and shaping the physical and chemical environments of young stellar objects. Quantifying accretion in the Class 0 protostellar phase is particularly important, yet remains observationally challenging due to high extinction toward the central protostars. In this paper, we present JWST NIRSpec and MIRI/MRS IFU data towards the Class 0 protostar L1527 IRS. We extract one-dimensional spectra and find emission from atomic and molecular hydrogen, water, OH, and several ionic species. The atomic hydrogen lines, Br$\alpha$, Pf$\alpha$, and Pf$\gamma$ are the most critical to this study since they can be used as accretion diagnostics. The existence of these atomic hydrogen lines viewed in scattered light indicates that accretion is likely occurring magnetospherically rather than through a boundary layer. Moment 0 emission maps show that the hydrogen emission is co-spatial with the scattered light continuum with a strong east-west asymmetry which is not due to outflow shocks. We additionally present moment 0 maps of other detected species and discuss their emission morphology. By primarily analyzing the Br$\alpha$ line, the strongest of our detected atomic hydrogen lines, we characterize the accretion onto L1527 IRS by estimating the accretion luminosity to be $0.4~\text{L}_\odot$ and the accretion rate to be around $1\times10^{-7}~ \text{M}_\odot \text{yr}^{-1}$. We lastly discuss the implications of our results with respect to both non-steady and asymmetric accretion possibly occurring in L1527 IRS.